Not my usual card show purchases

Last Sunday, I poked my head into my local monthly card show. A usual vendor that I like to buy from was not there, and there were a few new faces that had set up tables.

In my first run through of the hall, I didn't come across anything for my collection, including from the one usual guy that has football cards there.

However, while looking around, I spotted a few boxes of CDs and DVDs that were being sold for $2.00 each, or 3 for $5.00.

I pulled out a bunch of CDs that I had mostly previously owned on cassette, and then found one DVD to get up to 12 items to bring my total to $20.00.

The box of DVDs had a whole bunch of movies that I had seen, and a bunch that I already owned.

Of course I had seen St. Elmo's Fire a few times before buying this, but I hadn't seen it recently and figured it was a good purchase for under two dollars.

I had previously owned the CCR CD on cassette and am happy that I will once again be able to listen to it in my car.

I have owned other Guess Who albums, but not this one. But the music is well worth picking up.

The Irish Descendants CD replaces a previous copy I owned that I gave to one of my friends in Seattle. It is nice to have easy access to their version of Barrett's Privateers again.

As far back as I can remember, Billy Joel has been my favorite singer. I think I might already own this CD, but I haven't seen it in years if I do, so I decided to pick it up.

Again, the Joplin CD is a replacement for previously owned music.

I have owned a Gordon Lightfoot album before, but not this one. This is a nice pick up.

I've never owned a Monkees album before. I don't know why, as I've always liked their music.

I owned Bob Seger's Greatest Hits on cassette so this is another replacement.

Have you noticed a trend? Every one of these CDs that I've picked up are collections of greatest hits. I guess it is one of the ways to make sure there are songs I like.

I didn't own either of these before, but have always liked Paul Simon and a bunch of the songs on this album.

The Britney Spears album is me picking up a guilty pleasure for under two dollars. I don't know how often I'll listen to it, but it is there if I want it.

I like Thorogood, and have seen him in concert, but had never owned any of his music. It seemed I could always borrow his music off of roommates or friends if I ever wanted to listen to it.

After buying this, I took one last look around, and noticed that one of the new dealers had a football monster box that I hadn't seen, underneath a couple of hockey boxes.

Taking a look at the football box, the cards seemed to range from the 1950s to 1986, with not too much from any given year. The cards weren't in mint condition, but they were there.

The dealer told me that there were prices on the cards, but that he would lower the price on anything that I wanted to buy. He also told me that he had picked up this box at a Florida show for a good price without really knowing what was inside.

I didn't find any Browns cards that I needed, but one card jumped out at me. It had a $30.00 price tag on it.

I decided that even if it was just knocked down to twenty dollars, that I would be happy to own it, so I handed it to the dealer to see what he wanted for it.

Okay, you can see some corner damage, and it is has centering issues, but I never thought that I would be buying a Joe Montana rookie card.

Do you know what the dealer knocked it down to? Ten dollars. (And don't forget, I'm in Canada, so that was ten Canadian, which is just under eight US dollars.) How fast do you think I pulled out my wallet?

Here's the back. It is in nice shape.

Although I'm not a 49er fan, I am a Notre Dame fan, so this was a great card to pick up.

So, that's it. Not my usual card show purchases, but one nice football card that I am happy to own, and a bunch of music to listen to, and a movie to watch again.

Blaster of 2018 Topps Big League

While in a local Walmart recently, I spotted a few blasters of Topps Big League. I decided to pick one up.

Pack 1:

I like leader cards, and it has a nice photo of Sale throwing the ball.

Yay! A Met in the first pack.

Does Stanton have the same facial expression while swinging on both cards? It's kind of cool to see the ball on both cards.


Pack 2:

Some nice horizontal cards - a league leader, a great action shot, and a throwback uniform.

Second pack, second Met!

I like the action shot with Bader making a catch.

Smoltz shows me that there are retired players in the set. Good to know. But I guess Smoltz didn't get the message that he was supposed to point his finger here, not pump his fist.


Pack 3:

Another couple of league leaders cards. But why do I seem to be getting all these AL Leaders?

I think that is a great picture of Buxton running the bases. I like that his whole body is shown.

Okay, I can't complain about getting these two base rookies, or the player's weekend Rosario card, and the fact that it means that I've received three Mets in three packs.

Nice photo of Crawford with the helmet coming off on the gold card, but it is loses points for being a member of the Phillies.


Pack 4:

Okay, I like this Baseball Landmark card, and another good fielding shot on the Schwarber card. Schwarber is framed nicely in the card with the ivy in the background.

Another AL Leaders card, and another good photo with LeMahieu throwing the ball.

I'm sure Night Owl would accuse me of trying to sneak a Dodger card by him, so I better point out the Seager card.

Too bad, the Mets in consecutive packs stopped at three.


Pack 5:

Cool! Another Ballpark Landmarks card. I'll have to take a look at the checklist to see what else is out there.

And another AL Leaders card? But I'm a National League guy...

I guess that the gold Dodger card will have to make its way to Watertown at some point.

As I picked up one blaster, I noticed that the one behind it had a different image. This made me look closer at the boxes, and when I saw that one of them had an Ohtani card on the box, well, I knew which one to grab.

If you look at the bottom right corner of the box, you'll see that there is a bonus pack of four blue parallel cards.

It is nice to get another Ballpark Landmarks card in the blue parallel pack, and I like the Sisco card in his catcher's gear.


All in all, I'm very pleased with this blaster. There are obviously lots of league leader cards, and a really cool Ballpark Landmarks subset. It really tempts me to try and complete this set, but I know that I would have to buy quite a bit to complete the 400 card set. I'm sure that I will buy some more of it in the near future.

A minute a card: five random cards from my collection 5

I'm trying to keep these posts weekly since they are so quick to do. Let's see what random cards The Trading Card Database selects from my collection today.

1995 Ultra - Gold Medallion #61

I'm happy to see this card. I think this was my favorite year of the Gold Medallion parallels that Ultra used. I like the gold foil background. Combine that with the fact that it is of Steve Everitt, a player I really liked, and I think the Database chose a good card for me.

2015 Panini Contenders #54

Josh McCown started for the Jets today, and although I didn't watch the game, it doesn't look like he did too well. Too bad. I appreciated having him around as a quarterback in Cleveland, even if he didn't get the winning results I wanted.

2002-03 UD SuperStars #261

I had never heard of this multi-sport set until I got a card from it in a lot of Browns cards that I bought. I think there are three Browns cards in the set.

Rick Nash sure had a way better career than Andre Davis.

2012 Score - Gold Zone #286

Gold Zone, one of Score's many annual parallels.

I thought Sheard was a good player for the Browns, but was one of many defensive players that was drafted over the years that fell victim to changing defensive schemes.

2011 Score - Hot Rookies #12

You have to love the training uniforms being shown on the cards. I've got so many cards of Greg Little wearing 00. Although, I guess it is better than seeing combine photos of players in shorts and t-shirts with numbers on them.

Players with only one card in my collection - 3

Continuing a series showing cards of five players with only one card in my collection. There is an interesting twist to this post though, in the fact that the five players are represented on four cards.

Once again, this post owes a lot to The Trading Card Database. I'm using their sorting tools to look through my listed collection to see who only has one card, and then finding the first five names that I haven't posted yet, and instead of hauling out my binders and pulling out the necessary cards to scan, I'm borrowing images from the database.

1967 Philadelphia #38

Okay, football collectors should recognize this set quickly with its yellow border. And, I really love that hair on the card!

John Brewer was drafted by the Browns in the fourth round of the 1960 NFL Draft. He played seven seasons with the Browns.

Brewer's first five seasons with the Browns were as a slot end (tight end). During that time he caught 89 passes for 1256 yards, and 6 touchdowns. He was the starting tight end for the Browns 1964 NFL Championship team.

As you can see from the card back above, Brewer was moved to linebacker for the 1966 season. This position change explains how, as a linebacker, he is wearing number 83.

Brewer made the Pro Bowl in 1966, and had one interception and two fumble recoveries that season. In his final season with the Browns in 1967, he recovered three fumbles, and had two interceptions, returning one of them 70 yards for a touchdown.

After the 1967 season, he retired from football to go into the insurance business. A few months later, he decided he would like to continue to play football, but only for a team closer to his home, and insurance business. The Browns traded him to the New Orleans Saints where he played from 1968-70.

Looking at the listed John Brewer cards on the Trading Card Database, I'm shocked that I don't own his 1964 Philadelphia card. I'll have to fix that sometime soon. Other than the two Philadelphia cards, he also has a card in a 1961 National City Bank Browns set.

Oh, and in case you were wondering at the answer to the question on the back of the card, it is Cherokee. The same fact was used on the 1964 card.

John Brewer passed away at the age of 74, in 2011.

1954 Bowman #16

The Cleveland Browns made Bobby Garrett the first overall pick of the 1954 NFL Draft.

An All-American at Stanford, Garrett was the MVP of the 1954 Hula Bowl, and the winner of the W.J. Voit Memorial Trophy (as the outstanding football player on the Pacific Coast) in 1953.

The Browns were looking to draft a quarterback that could replace Otto Graham, and must have felt that with his college play, and his awards, that he was a fitting choice. Unfortunately, after arriving at his first Browns camp, the team discovered a weakness they weren't aware of - he stuttered, giving him trouble calling plays in the huddle.

Looking at how much scouting teams do now, and how big the NFL Combine is, there is no way something like this would slip by on a number one pick today.

Bobby Garrett never played a game for the Browns. Before the season started, the Browns traded Garrett and three other players to the Green Bay Packers for Babe Parilli and Bob Fleck, in a trade of backup quarterbacks. The Packers were unaware of the stuttering when they made the trade.

Garrett played in nine games for the Packers in 1954, his only season in the NFL. This was his only football card. He died, at the age of 55, in 1987.

2003 Topps Total #338

How wonderful was Topps Total? This card is the only Browns card that I own for both Kevin Bentley, and Ben Taylor. There is a silver parallel to this card that I don't own.

Kevin Bentley was drafted by the Browns out of Northwestern in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played three seasons at linebacker for the Browns from 2002-04, before moving on to and playing for Seattle, Houston, Indianapolis and Jacksonville from 2005-11.

Bentley also has a 2002 Leaf Rookies & Stars card, and parallels for me to find for my Browns collection.


Ben Taylor was also a fourth round Browns draft pick in the 2002 NFL Draft, ten picks after Kevin Bentley. He was drafted out of Virginia Tech.

Taylor played four seasons with the Browns, from 2002-05, before finishing his NFL career with the Green Bay Packers in 2006.

This Topps Total card, and its silver parallel, are the only cards from his career.


Just in case anyone was curious about the third player on the card, I have six Earl Little cards in my collection.

1972 Sunoco Stamps

Okay, this still counts as a card for my collection, even though it is a stamp. I have chosen not to show the blank back of this sticker.

Jim Copeland was a tenth round pick, out of Virginia, in the 1967 NFL Draft. His career lasted eight seasons with the Browns from 1967 - 1974, starting 9 of 81 games with the team.

I really love the dirty photo on the sticker.

Jim Copeland passed away at the age of 65 in 2010.

This is Jim Copeland's only football card.

Sportlots order - part 2

Here is the second half of my Sportlots order that I picked up at my P.O. Box last week.

Top: 2008 Donruss Classics - Classic Triples #CT-2 (#/1000)

Middle: 2008 Donruss Elite - Prime Targets Gold #PT-6 (#/800)

Bottom: 2008 Donruss Elite - Teams Red #ET-11 (#/400)

I love the top card with the Hall of Famers on it. These Classics inserts are great to add new cards of old stars.

I've always liked shared cards, so the Elite Team card is nice to have to join the Classics card.

Top: 2008 Donruss Classics - Sunday's Best #SB-16 (#/1000)

Middle: 2008 Donruss Classics - Sunday's Best #SB-15 (#/1000)

Bottom: 2008 Donruss Classics - Sunday's Best #SB-2 (#/1000)

I managed to knock off all three Browns from the Sunday's Best base insert set, but there are still a whole bunch of parallels to look for.

Top (l-r): 2008 Finest - Blue Refractor #33; 2008 Topps Rookie Progression - Bronze #132 (#/389)

Bottom: 2008 Playoff Prestige - League Leaders #LL-8

Some Jamal Lewis cards. Out of the parallels, I prefer the Blue Refractor card over the Bronze one. Probably because refractors are shinier.

Another shared card, this time showing Lewis as one of the NFL rushing leaders. Lewis was the third leading AFC rusher, while Portis was the third leading NFC rusher.

Top (l-r): 2008 Bowman - Gold #12; 2008 Score - Glossy #74

Bottom (l-r): 2008 Topps Mayo - Mini Black Backs #60 and #325

A whole bunch more parallels that I needed.

I like the thicker Bowman Gold parallels, but the Score Glossy parallels have sometimes been the bane of my collecting. I'm sure that I've gone through my collection a few times, trying to figure out if I have the base or glossy versions of each card. I always have to shine a light on the card and rotate it a bit to see if I see a glossy sheen. I want both, and think that I've discovered two glossies in my collection, or two base cards in my collection many times after I've already sorted them. I think that they are sorted out now, and I verified that I needed this glossy when I added it to my collection.

L-R: 2008 SP Authentic - Retail #20; - Retail #19

With a lot of the retail parallels in sets, I'm sometimes confused as to whether I'm actually finding the right card. I had already owned the hobby versions of these cards, and needed to add the retail versions. The simple difference between the two is that the word Authentic can be found under the SP logo on the hobby card.

L-R: 2009 Bowman Draft Picks - Orange #27; 2009 Topps Mayo - Silver #68

Signed after Josh Allen's injury, Derek Anderson started two games with Buffalo this year, suffering a concussion against New England in the second one. It looks like Anderson may be back from his concussion for this week, and that he will get the start. Allen seems to be expected back after Buffalo's Week 11 bye, so there is a chance that this might be Derek Anderson's last NFL start.

Top (l-r): 2009 Donruss Classics - Team Colors #5; 2009 Donruss Elite - Series Red #21 (#/999)

Bottom: 2009 SP Authentic #190

Although the shared card is cool, I think my favorite of these three cards is the Team Colors insert.

People laugh that I like the brown and orange colors, but I do. I prefer the old uniforms to what the Browns are wearing now, and I know that the team changed the orange a bit when they came up with the new uniforms, but I would never want them to change their colors away from brown and orange.

Top (l-r): 2009 Score - Glossy #70; - Glossy #68

Bottom: 2009 Score #71

Remember what I said earlier about the base and glossy Score cards? Here are two more glossy cards that I needed, and as it turned out, I had the glossy Winslow card, and needed the base one.

L-R: 2010 Panini Rookies & Stars - Longevity Gold #36 (#/49); 2010 Panini Rookies & Stars Longevity #35

Now we're getting into another thing that I dislike.

Okay, there were base and glossy Score cards, there were the retail parallels that I bought to go with the hobby versions that I knew. But, this...

Why would you have a set called Rookies & Stars with parallels called Longevity, and then put out a Panini Rookies & Stars Longevity set? Do you know how confused I can get when I'm trying to find cards I need for these sets? Just to make sure that I get the right cards? And I have to hope that the seller knows the difference.

Ah, well, two more cards off the wantlist to help solve that problem.

Top: 2010 Playoff Contenders - Draft Class #21

Middle: 2010 Playoff Contenders - Draft Class #11

Bottom: 2010 Topps - Gold #343 (#/2010)

It is nice to get these two Colt McCoy Draft Class inserts. McCoy is still in the NFL, as the backup quarterback with the Redskins. The other two players he is featured with, Jimmy Clausen and Jordan Shipley, are out of the NFL.

The Cribbs gold card brings me up to ten out of the fourteen gold cards for the team set. I'm slowly getting it all. And I do like these nice gold-bordered cards.

Top: 2011 Panini Adrenalyn XL #71, #73, and #74

Bottom: 2011 Panini Adrenalyn XL #75, and #79

These cards complete the base team set for me. I am very happy to pick up a new Phil Dawson card, and the Jabaal Sheard rookie card.

I still need two autographed cards, and one parallel card from the set.

Top (l-r): 2011 Topps - Gold #321 (#/2011); - Gold #3 (#/2011)

Bottom (l-r): 2011 Score - Glossy #72; 2011 Topps Chrome - Refractors #58

More parallels.

These two 2011 gold cards bring me up to five out of thirteen for the team set. It is lagging quite a bit behind the 2010 team set.

Top: 2012 Panini Crown Royale - Silver Crown #15 (#/149)

Bottom (l-r): 2012 Topps Magic - Mini #39; - Mini #61 

Finally, some more parallels to finish my order with.

I've always liked the die cut crown cards so it's always nice to add another one to my collection.

I like mini parallels, but not the fact that there are four different ones to find for this set. I guess the card companies need to make sure that I will always have Browns cards to look for.

So ends another Sportlots order - the first in a long while. Of course, this whet the appetite, and I wound up making another order. I'll be sure to post about it after I get it.

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I forgot to add something.

I participated in the two blogger Secret Santas that Matt had previously organised.

Since he is on a break from blogging, Jon at A Penny Sleeve For Your Thoughts has taken over this year. It has been a lot of fun in the past, as I'm sure it will be again this year, and I'm looking forward to participating in it again.

Check it out!